Attentively Attentive to all Things

Yesterday, myself, Dave and Caris walked in the JDRF walk in downtown Indianapolis.  Juvenile diabetes is an awful thing for a child to have to go through.  We walked for my friend Sara's little boy, Ryan, who was diagnosed at 2 years.  Thinking about Caris being diagnosed with something like this just makes me shudder.  Diabetes at any age is a horrible disease, of which insulin is not a cure.  More research needs done to discover a cure for this awful ailment.  I have an uncle with an insulin pump.  My grandfather had, and my mother has type II diabetes, and it's a daily struggle to keep blood sugar levels regulated, while living a normal life.  One my hidden fears is being diagnosed myself, since it seems to run in the family.  I was more than happy to hold a bake sale, and to walk for Ryan, and for the others kids who suffer from juvenile diabetes.  If you can, and care, please donate.  Ryan's Super Crew team page is  here ...

So I've been AWOL for a few months.  Oopsie!  My goal of posting at least once a month have fizzled away in a sea of literature homework and a toddler.  Life happens, so to speak.  So here's what I've been up to since my last post in July. Since July, we have decided to raise goats in 2012.  That decision was made about 10 seconds after I saw a Nigerian Dwarf goat.  Check them out here and you'll see why:  http://www.ndga.org/ I started back to school at the end of August.  Taking only 9 hours, I thought this semester would be much easier and I would have more free time to write, etc.  Oh, how wrong I was!  These 3 classes are kicking my butt in all sorts of ways.  If you follow me on Facebook, you've seen my check-ins at SMWC, and my utter joy at being on campus for stats class.  Not.  My literature class is HARD, and the drama class, while fun, is very challenging.  I'm learning lots, when I get over being overw...

If you follow my blog, and have the most recent Flickr photo stream pictures, you'll discover we went to our county fair today.  I entered three photos into the open class amateur category, and came home with a 3rd place.  Not bad for a first go!  We wandered aimlessly with my parents through the poultry barn, the goat barn, the sheep barn, the swine barn, and the cattle barn.  Caris pet a baby goat, a mule, and I think she got her little hands inside a sheep pen to touch their wool.  Of course, the fair can't go on unless it's literally 95 degrees in the shade, and we were sweltering.  Luckily, Caris is too young to understand that at 5pm, the carnival rides start.  The day will come, however, when our little farm girl decrees she wants to ride the rides.  Until then, we'll stick to animals and open class competitions. And besides, I hate carnies.  Very small hands.  Smell of cabbage.  ;)

I have a rant ahead, and before I get going, let me preface what I am about to rant about.  For about a year now, we've been making an effort to more environmentally friendly.  No, we're not as good at this as we'd like, but it's a slow process and we keep plugging away.  We have plans to do more, but require the time to put such practices into place.  We're getting there, however. One of the things I've been trying really hard to do is stop using plastic grocery sacks in favor of the fabric ones. I have nothing against anyone who uses them, of course.  They are handy to have around and last a long time.  However, when you get to where you have 2 cabinets full of them, then it's time to rethink the plastic grocery sack.  Yes, we can take them to recycled (another stage in our process), but why not use something reusable?  I have multiple fabric bags from many, many different places: CVS, Kroger, Walmart, the bookstore, one from my dear friend Kr...

....I am keeping chickens.  The history of keeping chickens for eggs, meat, and feathers goes way, way back, and I won't bore you with a lecture.  Needless to say, we're doing something many have done before us.  I resisted at first, thinking about the smell, the poo, and the general overall ick that would come along with them.  Then I visited a friend and her flock.  I was hooked.  Hers free range and actually greeted me as I stepped out of the truck.  As I watched them crowd around the feed, I thought "I can do this!"  Next, I set out learning about breed, because yes, there are many, many breeds of chickens!  Not all chickens lay white eggs, the majority lay brown, and then there are those that lay blue ones.  I agonized for weeks over what breed I wanted, then I realized I could order multiple breeds at once!  Happy thought indeed!  I decided to narrow it down to 4 breeds, and 12 chickens to start with.  I didn't want...

...my baby girl Caris was born.  Many of you know the struggles we went through to have a baby.  I was practically into my seventh month of pregnancy before I dared to buy anything for her for fear of jinxing everything.  Her birth is a blur for me, as I was very sick and sadly don’t remember much from that time.  The prominent memories are those of worry because she was so tiny, and that she wasn’t warm enough, or eating enough.  I was worried about the heart murmur that kept her from being immediately released, and most of all, I was scared to death that I wouldn't know what to do when we got her home.  That notion was tested a few times in the middle of the next several nights, but lo and behold, she has made it to two years without too many issues.  Experienced moms will tell you all those thoughts are normal and will never cease, and indeed today I am still worried about those same things.  However, now I’ve added her falling down the baseme...

Last night at 9:30pm, I uploaded my last assignment for the semester!  I am now a free chickie until the end of August.  I can't even describe the feeling of freedom I have. I have a to-do list a mile long, but I have a reprieve until after Caris' 2nd birthday party on June 4th.  This list includes plans for to turn Caris' nursery into a toddler room, the purging of my closet (*shudders*), the purging of my kitchen, redecorating both bathrooms, taking care of flower beds, and at some point, read and review as many books as possible.  You never realize the simple joy of reading a book of your choosing, until you are made to read uninteresting textbooks for a class that has nothing to do with your major.  *sigh* I also hope to get some writing done, and a certain story finished.  We'll see how that goes.  My writing bug hasn't kicked in yet, but I'm hoping it will soon. We're off to Gatlinburg, TN this weekend for a family vacation. Yep, that'...